The Ghost of Christmas Past (12 page)

“I
can see there's questions that need to be asked, Miss Dearheart, yes. But I
can't let this young man go. Not until they're answered. He's still an escaped
convict.”

“But
surely if there has been an injustice, then he should never have been in
prison.”

“The
law is the law, Miss Dearheart, you know that.”

“Then
I will find out the truth,” said Elizabeth. She turned to Liam. “I never
thought of it before, but I'll go and look in the parish records. They may
mention Lucinda Hargreaves and her two children.”

Liam
stood up and took her hands in his. “You're wonderful,” he said, and completely
oblivious to the constable's presence and his own marital status, he took
Elizabeth into his arms and kissed her. For the first time she knew what a kiss
should be, as she gave herself up entirely to the love she felt for him. He
pulled away reluctantly. “Whatever happens, I will never forget what you're
trying to do for me, Elizabeth. I'll take the memory of it to my grave.”

“Shh,”
said Elizabeth, putting her fingers to his lips. Her eyes filled with tears,
and for one horrible moment she saw the shadow of the hangman's noose over
Liam's head. Any moral qualms she’d had the night before had disappeared. Yes,
he was married, but to a woman who would have happily seen him executed. Surely
God would forgive her the sin of loving him. “Please don't think like that. We
… I will … clear your name, Liam. I promise.”

Elizabeth
left Liam in Constable and Mrs. Hounds capable hands. “It does the heart good
to see two young people in love,” said Kitty Hounds, wiping her eyes on her
apron. “You take care, Miss Dearheart. Don't you go getting into any danger.”

With
a promise that she would keep safe, Elizabeth made her way to the church. She
could hear the choir singing carols as she grew nearer, and she was reminded
once again that it was Christmas morning. Samuel would be waking soon, eager
for his presents, and for the first time since he had been born, she was not
there to see the new day in with him. It made her think about what would happen
if she went away. Seeing her brother's face on Christmas morning had been
amongst the joys of her life.

Pushing
the thought aside for the moment, she went around the back of the church and in
through the vestry door. The singing was louder in there, and through a crack
in the door leading to the altar, she could see several villagers already
seated in the pews praying, including Mrs. Chatterbucks and Miss Graves. They
had their eyes closed in reverent prayer, though Elizabeth could not help
noticing with a smile that every now and then one of them opened their eyes as
if to check everyone else was being just as reverent.

She
slipped past them, praying not to be seen. Her father also had his head bowed
in prayer, but she had no doubt he would sense her presence. He looked up
slightly with a questioning look in his eyes. She put her fingers to her lips,
and went to the vestry.

Elizabeth
opened the various cupboards in the vestry and searched through the records of
births, deaths and marriages. She tried to remember whether it had been said
Lucinda Hargreaves children were born in Midchester, or whether she had arrived
with them. If she had arrived with them, then there would be no record of their
birth. So she contented herself with finding the marriage record, in the hopes
that might throw some light on the subject. She found the record, but all it
told her was that Lucinda Yates had married Franklin Hargreaves thirty-three
years previously. Elizabeth checked the record of deaths, and sure enough
Franklin Hargreaves was listed as deceased, some three years after the
marriage.

Next
Elizabeth took out the record of baptisms at the church. She had little hope of
finding anything, and decided to work back from the date of Lucinda and
Franklin's marriage, for no other reason than that it was the one date of which
she could be certain. She did not have to look for long. For on the same day
that Lucinda and Franklin married, it was recorded that two children, a boy
aged three and a girl aged two, were baptised. She had no time to wonder at the
events that led to the parents marrying some time after the children were born.
She had known of people in the village who had not bothered to marry, but it
was felt amongst the townspeople that they were not quite nice to know.
However, her father always treated them kindly, in the hopes that one day they
would feel encouraged to marry under God’s holy laws. Elizabeth ran her hands
over the Christian names of the two children, and realised then that she had
the whole story at her fingertips.

It
had been such an easy deception, she mused, as she carried the book out of the
church, and to the street. All it took was to change part of the surname, and
an occasional change of Christian names, and no one would ever suspect. Then
when the mother became too old to attract men, or died, the daughter took over.
Possibly the son too. Elizabeth had not forgotten about the case in France
mentioned in the newspaper. She thought about her own annuity of one hundred
pounds a year, but also what she might inherit from Lady Bedlington, who could
not live for many more years. It made her a very attractive prospect to the
wrong man. And she had known he was the wrong man the moment he proposed to
her. It was not only her burgeoning feelings for Liam that had prevented her
from feeling attraction. It was the strong sense that something was not quite
right.

Chapter
Nine

When
Elizabeth reached the gaol, it was to find a commotion. Over at the gaol, two
officers stood either side of Liam, who, it broke her heart to see, had been
put in manacles. There was a carriage outside the constable's gate. It was
closed in, with only a small, barred window at the back and the sight of it
chilled her far more than the cold winter air. They had come to take him, but
were prevented from moving by an obstruction.

There
was another carriage in the centre of the road, overloaded with trunks and
household belongings. One of the horses had gone lame. Mr. Hardacre stood
beside the horse, beating it furiously with a stick, whilst it cowed its head
in supplication. Elizabeth gasped in horror on seeing the vicious look on
Hardacre's face and the suffering of the poor animal.

“Come
now, Mr. Hardacre,” said Constable Hounds. “Don't treat the animal so. We'll
get the smithy out, and find you a new horse.”

“Get
up you beast,” yelled Hardacre. “Move, damn it, or I'll kill you!”

“Well,
I never,” said Mrs. Chatterbucks, who had left the church some time earlier
with her sister, to return home for breakfast. They stood at the side of the
roadway, watching the horror unfold. “Such language. Such behaviour and from a
gentleman too.”

“He's
no gentleman,” said Elizabeth. She crossed the road to where Hardacre stood.
“Cedric Hargreaves,” she cried. “You stop that this instant!”

Her
use of his real name had the desired effect. Hardacre stopped, his eyes wild
with anger. His manner changed within seconds, and for the first time,
Elizabeth saw the real danger in the man. A man who could switch from brutality
to charm in a matter of seconds. How might such a man treat a wife? “I … I am
sorry, Miss Dearheart. You must forgive me. My sister and I are leaving
Midchester. We're off to a warmer climate for her health. It is only my desire
to ensure she is well that has led to this … this aberration, I assure you.”
From the look in his eyes, he was clearly puzzled about the way she had
addressed him.

“Where
is your sister?” asked Elizabeth. “Is she in the carriage?” Elizabeth walked to
the carriage door.

“Stop!”
said Hardacre. “She is wrapped up warm, and I am sure you do not wish to add to
her sickness by letting the cold in.”

“Why?
Are you afraid that Doctor Bradbourne might recognise his wife?”

Hardacre
became flustered. “I am not sure what you mean.”

“Constable
Hounds,” Elizabeth called across the street. “Please, have your men bring
Doctor Bradbourne here.”

The
constable did as Elizabeth asked. The men crossed the street with Liam and
brought him around to where Elizabeth stood.

“Oh,
I see where this is going,” said Cedric Hardacre. “You will say she is your
wife just to clear your name. Never mind that you've never set eyes on my
sister before.”

Ignoring
him, Elizabeth yanked the door open, to reveal Dora Hardacre, sitting in the
carriage, shaking with fear.  Elizabeth could see that it was not the fear of
being harmed. It was the fear of being found out. “I've never seen this man
before in my life,” said Dora, before Liam could speak.

“That's
odd,” said Liam. “Because I certainly know you, Clara. As will the people you
met in Delhi. So I suggest you and your brother stay in Midchester, until they
can get here.”

“We
will do no such thing,” said Cedric Hardacre. “This is nothing to do with us.”

“You
were born to Lucinda Yates,” said Elizabeth. “Probably out of wedlock.
Thirty-three years ago, she married Franklin Hargreaves. I imagine she’d
already set up her plan to have him framed for murder. You and your brother
were baptised on the day of their wedding. I have it here.” Elizabeth held out
the book. “Cedric and Dora Hargreaves. You returned recently, in the hopes that
no one would recognise you. And you were correct. No one did. Until Mr.
Sanderson visited on business. My guess is that he saw your sister in the
village and recognised her as the young woman who had married his brother,
Albert. You,” she turned to Mr. Hardacre, “agreed to meet him, and killed him.
Then as if that were not bad enough, you insulted his memory by turning him
into a snowman.”

“This
preposterous,” said Dora. “I am not that woman.”

“Yes
you are,” said a voice from the assembled crowd. A man stepped forward, and
next to him a hooded lady.  It was the man whom Elizabeth had seen sitting in
the minstrel's gallery. The woman removed the hood and revealed herself to be
Lady Clarissa. “I am Albert Sanderson, and this woman is my wife, Lucinda.” He
pointed to Dora.

“I
persuaded my step-mother to hold a Christmas ball,” said Lady Clarissa. “We
invited everyone in the district. Albert...” She looked at Sanderson, and
Elizabeth saw the sadness in Clarissa's eyes disappear to be replaced by
enduring love. They became harder when she looked again upon Cedric and Dora
Hardacre. “Albert sat in the minstrel's gallery, in the hopes he would see you
amongst the crowd, Lucinda. When that did not work, we started looking at who
had not taken up the invitation. The Hardacre brother and sister were the only
ones. You can imagine our interest when we heard you were thinking of leaving
soon. We've had people watching you, and as soon as we heard you had packed up
early, we came down here to stop you. Luckily the horse did that for us. Poor
creature.” Clarissa's eyes softened as she looked at the horse, but she could
easily have been talking about the tired and sad man who stood next to her.

“So
it was not Mr. Sanderson who told the constable about Liam?” said Elizabeth.

“No,”
said Lady Clarissa, smiling. “I imagine Mr. Hardacre did that when his sister
saw Doctor Bradbourne from a distance the other day.”

“But
they waited until last night so that the commotion surrounding his arrest would
cover their departure,” said Elizabeth, catching on quickly. She remembered how
confused and upset Liam had been when she was on her way to visit the Hardacres.
At the time she assumed he had seen Lady Clarissa. It must have been Dora Hardacre;
the woman he knew as Clara.

“You
are a very intelligent young woman, Miss Dearheart,” said Lady Clarissa.

“Was
it you who chased my brother and Johnny Fletcher?” asked Elizabeth, advancing
on Cedric Hardacre. “Because I do not believe for one minute it was Mr. Sanderson,
although I'm sure it was your intention to have us believe that.”

“I'm
telling you this is preposterous,” said Hardacre.

“Your
sister has been recognised by two men. Shall we contact the Rivers family and
see if they recognise her as Prudence Rivers? And what about the lady in
France? Would her family recognise you as the husband who turned up after that
tragic lady had been executed?”

“He
made me do it,” said Dora Hardacre, whining. “Do you not see how it is, Liam,
darling? How he made me deceive you? And you, Albert. I knew you loved Lady
Clarissa. I said to him, 'please don't make me do this to such a good man.' But
he has beaten and cajoled me all our lives.”

“You
lying wretch!” Hardacre cried. “It was your idea to carry on mother's schemes.
It would make us rich, you said. And we have scraped all our lives. Miss
Dearheart, I only asked me to marry me so I could escape her forever.”

The
brother and sister bickered on that theme, whilst the constable's unlocked
Liam's manacles, and transfered them to Hardacre. They fetched more manacles
for Dora, and both were put into the black van originally intended for Liam and
carried away. They could be heard screaming and shouting at each other as the
van disappeared down the street.

Chapter
Ten

The
list of guests for Christmas luncheon had swelled so much that Lady Bedlington
insisted on hosting it at Bedlington Hall. Elizabeth, Samuel and the Reverend Dearheart
attended, along with Lady Clarissa and Albert Sanderson, the constable and his
wife, Mrs. Chatterbucks and Miss Graves, John and Amelia Wheston, the Fletchers
(with Johnny who had awoken during the night and seemed to be on good form,
though still pale) and Liam.